Elsbridge
Elsbridge is the junction to the Ffarquhar branch line and the Greenwald lines, and a village located on the river Els. The station consists of four platforms, one of which has a canopy. A walkover unites them along with the ticket office on the hill above. The station has a bookstall under the canopy here too. It holds a yard here for storage of trucks and other goods to be transported to wherever they need to go. Thomas and Toby's coaches sometimes stay here under a carriage shed, and an engine shed is located here too. Usually, engines who don't have set shed allocation stay here. The branch line runs over the river along a small viaduct. The river carries on until it reaches the Sudrian Sea at a small seaside hamlet known as Elsbridge South. History The town was built around a country church in the 1730s. St. Pedroc's Church was the first building in the area, and as time went on, the town grew around it. in 1885, when the Knapford, Tidmouth and Elsbridge Railway was opened, it terminated at a small, single platform station close to the sea. It also held a goods platform where food and stone were loaded onto horse and carts where they were brought to the village. This old station still remains there today, though it's derelict and could easily fall apart. For years, a old wooden bridge united the people of the town with the opposite side of the river. This was until 1902, when the townsfolk got together and planned a new stone road bridge. The stone had to be imported from the mainland, but once it finally was, the construction began, and in 1904, the bridge was completed. The town was proud of its accomplishment and never let anyone forget it. After the gale in 1908 destroyed the line running by Callandale, the old station was abandoned and replaced with one which sat where the modern day station does now. The line was reopened in 1910 and proved more popular than ever. In 1912, the Ulfstead Mining Company became interested in lead at Toryreck and decided to open a mine here. They paid for the Knapford, Tidmouth and Elsbridge Railway to be extended here, and the Elsbridge Viaduct was built along with two stations along the way. One by a local airfield, and another in a small settlement nearby the mines; Toryreck. In 1924, when Jabez Croarie began quarrying at Ffarquhar, the fat controller offered him a deal that would mean the North Western Railway would operate to Anopha as long as Croarie rebuilt the Elsbridge rail viaduct and built the tunnel at Hackenbeck. The deal was made and the line extended. As a result, the yard at Elsbridge was expanded, and this was when the carriage and engine sheds were built. In 1955, the station and yard saw a minor expansion again as the new harbour nearby called for easier access to the station yards. So, the fat controller added a whole hoard of new crossovers and junctions to compensate. In 1997, the station installed an all over signal gantry in the yard. Operations As Elsbridge serves as the junction to the Ffarquhar branch line, it acts as both a main line and a branch line station. There are four guaranteed connections here daily; Thomas and Henry's morning trains, Toby and James' noon trains, Thomas and Gordon's afternoon trains, and finally, Thomas and James' evening trains. Before the branch line sheds were moved to Ffarquhar in 1975, Annie, Clarabel, Henrietta, and Elsie stayed in the carriage shed here regularly. The yard here is mostly used to store trucks and vans heading along the main line, to the harbour, or, onto the branch line. Coaches are often kept here as well when the other branch lines close by run low on room for storage. Gallery Thomas,PercyandtheCoal20-1.PNG ElsbridgePre1910.png|Elsbridge Station prior to 1910 ElsbridgeYard.png|Elsbridge Yard ElsbridgeYard2.png ElsbridgeJunctionJunction.png ElsbridgeTicketOffice.png|The Ticket Office ElsbridgeHarbour.png|The nearby Harbour Category:North Western Railway Category:The Main Line Category:Ffarquhar Branch Line